Cazatou
Rick Cook's final recorded words were caught in conversation before takeoff. He expressed concern about the engine control units. In addition, i) the PTiT guage was lagging during the Ballykindler sortie; ii) the satellite tracking ghosts caused Jon Tapper so many concerns that neither he nor ground crew got the answers they were looking for before take-off; iii) the AAIB didn't find any evidence of a technical fault but they were not able to rule it out either. Call me old fashioned but in an incident where the remaining aircraft is category scrap and 20% is obliterated entirely, that is not an unreasonable conclusion.
Extension to flight hours was a red herring then and is now. They were flying within permissible hours and Cook had an overnight bag should they have to stay away. SF can handle long days. It's what they do.
There are to this day no answers. Of course questions should continue to be asked. But don't suggest something that is demonstrably false.
The Mark Two crew fleet-wide were barely current. The potential Mark Three crews, and all the attendant dangers in Afghanistan today, are directly linked to the unexplained incident on Beinn na Lice. If we had the answer from 1994 those Mk 3 helis would be in flight in Helmand today helping. They can't be there in support to any real degree because of contractual disputes and risk assessments involving MoD legal services. Whitehall officials who declare cause of the Mull accident known (pilot gross negligence) also look to learn lessons from the Mull on how not to introduce such upgraded aircraft to service generally. You and they cannot have it both ways.